Ardbeg Fermutation 13-Year
49.4% ABV - Islay, Scotland
Nose: Thick, sooty smoke, with seawater and oil dominating. There are subtle fruit notes in the background, and if I’m not mistaken, a hint of banana or other tropical fruits. Possibly some roasted nuts as well.
Taste: A beach bonfire paired with citrus and other fruits. It’s surprisingly sweet, and the smoke isn’t overwhelming—more akin to the smoke levels in Lagavulin 16 or 12-Year. It has a satisfying full mouthfeel, which is a big plus.
Finish: You get a bit of an Islay hug—like a touch of jalapeño heat—before the smoke billows up and the sweetness fades gently.
This bottle marked a tipping point for me with Ardbeg’s marketing. They really started leaning into elaborate stories for their limited releases beyond the annual Ardbeg Day bottlings. While I was initially skeptical of the heavy storytelling approach, I have to give credit to the design team—the alien-themed label with green and yellow hues, and washbacks resembling UFOs, is fun. I think the "invasion" reference comes from the open-air yeast that supposedly "invaded" this malt.
I’ll admit, I had written this bottle off before I even tasted it, mostly out of frustration with the price. I went into that first pour with a mindset of looking for faults, not surprises. Fast-forward to today, years later, and I’ve been slowly enjoying the heel of this bottle—and it’s really grown on me! It’s not exceptional, but it’s far from bad. At a price point of $200-250 CAD, this would be solid value.
Note: I decided to experiment with GPT-4o to help refine this review after training it with some of my previous ones.
Details (Official): Committee Release 2021. In November 2007, when a broken boiler threatened six washbacks filled with precious liquid, Dr Bill (Ardbeg’s Director of Distilling and Whisky Creation) sensed an opportunity. He quickly instructed the Distillery folk to throw open the washback lids and expose the liquid to the air. Tiny beings descended from the sky and landed in the spirit… The ‘Fermutation’ process had begun. An epic 3 week-long fermentation – the longest in Ardbeg’s history – eventually gave rise to this wild, zingy and vibrant spirit.
Tasting Notes (Official): In a dram that tastes like pure science fiction, peat and smoke meld beautifully with fresh, floral flavours, while sharp, more malty notes give Fermutation a uniquely Ardbeggian profile.
Tasted 30 September 2024. (Posted 4 October 2024.)
